WHAT WE DO

We act independently as market leaders in hotel toursim & leisure consulting, adding value to businesses in the Romanian and East European hospitality marketplace

HOTELS

scroll further down for chapter TOURISM AND LEISURE

Market and Financial Feasibility Studies

We belive our insightful and independent feasibility studies are already renowned in Romania. As impartial and informed assessments of project viability, owners, developers, investors, operators, lenders and other interested third parties when making planning, investment and/or financing decisions rely upon these studies. Identifying and defining the specific development or property repositioning opportunity is a key part of the feasibility process. We bring to that task an unrivalled understanding of the market and competitive environment. That derives from our Romanian and SEE regional experience, market research and analytical capabilities. We can make recommendations regarding the project concept and facilities to maximise its long-term competitive advantages, cash flow and on-going value.A credible feasibility study is a critical first step in any project and is usually required by: Owners and Developers for internal project review; Financing Institutions and Investors for investment decisions; International Hotel Groups for project evaluation; and Architects & Designers for facility requirements and design parameters.

With our rich experience of hotel and mixed-use developments, we are uniquely qualified to help with developing the concept for your project. The service we provide harnesses the skills of the very best human resources and is in fact the essential work of any prefeasibility study or use of the land analysis.Facility Planning/Programming is the first step in the traditional design cycle and when it comes to hotel projects, our experience goes beyond any local architect experience. The process determines what is required of a proposed new or remodelled building by its users and other interested parties such as its owners, managers and the general public. Our report will contain the agreed organizational, operational and functional requirements for the building and provide the starting point for the final design of the architect. Services related to planning your kitchen or bar in compliance with local regulations can also be thoroughly covered. Hotel classification statutory standards compliance reports can reveal your risks with regard to obtaining the desired certificate.

International hotel group selection and Contract negotiation

Selecting a brand (for hotels, resorts and serviced apartments) and negotiating a contract are vital to achieving the optimum ROI and maintaining asset value. Even the most experienced owners and developers can find this increasingly challenging but we understand exactly what’s required and can help you get it right. You don't need the mobile numbers of the developement representatives, what you need is the enhanced credibility of your project offered by collaborating with us and our experience in adjusting the clauses of the contract maximized in your favor in the given market context. We work on your side!

Asset Management

With our hospitality expertise, extensive operational experience and deep-rooted analytical abilities, we can act as owner representatives and take an assertive approach to implementing strategies and practices to improve cash flow, maximize returns and enhance long-term asset value.

Appraisal Reports and Valuation

Valuating hospitality properties is a complex task requiring particular expertise. Our team of credentialed specialists are not simply experts in valuation methodology but understand everything about hospitality operations and market trends. Their in-depth knowledge has earned them the respect of all those involved in the industry, from property owners and commercial lenders to insurance providers and government bodies.

We can provide an independent and fair market valuation. The valuation team includes ANEVAR accredited experts and international experts with local experience in the market and an extensive knowledge base on which to draw.Hospitality assets, such as hotels and resorts, are complex real estate types, with significant land use value depending on their operational performance. Their performance is susceptible to greater market fluctuations, location issues, management sophistication and high capital investment than other real estate such as office or retail. Because of this, the valuation of hospitality assets requires a special market understanding and product expertise.

We employ a sophisticated Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) valuation approach recognized as the standard by investors in the hospitality industry. In our experience, sophisticated investors use replacement cost and sales comparisons only as secondary references. The DCF valuation process involves thorough review of the market, quantification of current and future market demand and most importantly, projection of a property’s potential future operating and financial performance based on assessment of its competitive attributes and characteristics. Discount rates based on prevailing investment trends and the weighted average costs of debt and equity are then applied to the projected net cash flows and aggregated to derive the property’s present value. Often, we also identify the potential upside opportunities associated with strategic repositioning through rebranding and/or capital improvements to derive a value reflecting an asset’s optimal performance.

Our asset valuations are regarded as independent, expert opinions and a pre-requisite for:

Buyers, Investors and Fund Groups - for acquisition or disposal of single properties or portfolios

Owners and Developers - for arrangement of deal structuring, financing or disposal of assets

Banks and Financing Institutions - for pre-mortgage review or work-out and insolvency situations

Suitable project types:

Land Acquisition (using residual land value analysis)

Asset Transaction

Equity / Debt Participation

Pre-Lending or Refinancing Review

Due diligence for acquisitions or disposals

Stock exchange listing

Basis for joint venture or partnership structuring

Asset revaluation for balance sheet purposes

Our valuation services include:

Valuations of hotel groups

Real estate tax assessment appeals

Expert valuation testimony for foreclosure and bankruptcy proceedings

Accounts purposes – short form annual valuations undertaken for a variety of investor’s operators and owners.

Expert Witness /Rent Reviews/Lease Renewals – acting on behalf of Landlords and Tenants as well as investors and insurers

Business Recovery

Expert help getting back on track.

Based on the international experience we have access to, we have developed a range of products to help you through difficult times. Our relationship with the audit and taxes division of our strategic partner, allows us to offer more than simple asset management or operational support.

Initial Report on Current Trading Position:These services, which focus on recovery and turnaround start with an initial report on current trading and position that includes benchmarking against local market conditions and industry standards.

Analysis of the P&L

Analysis of the debt position

CAPEX requirements

Review of the operational requirements including sales and marketing.

Management Advice and Support:The second phase concentrates on taking the results of the operational analysis results and creating practical advice and support for the management team. This includes:

Short and medium term planning

Sales, marketing and revenue management support

Asset management and operational support

Financial Situation Support:Our partnership puts us in a good position to help you with your financials, including accounting support, debt position analysis and advice, negotiating support with banks and suppliers, transactional support and corporate finance.

Mergers and Aquisitions Advisory

Transaction management and closure;The experience with hotel transactions, qualifies us to offer expert advice for buyers and sellers looking to expand or divest their hotel portfolio.We will work with the buyer or seller to make every transaction as smooth as possible. That includes finding aquisition targets or potential buyers, advising on correct process, due diligence and helping you through the final, often complex financial stages when great skill and subtlety is often needed to achieve the desired result.

Benchmarking

A wealth of data gathered from all areas of hotel operation allows us to benchmark everything from P&L to cash flow and productivity. We can provide the essential information that will help keep your business running at its absolute best.

Best Practice Analysis

Our hotel experts know what it takes to ensure top performance in all areas of your business. We will evaluate, explore and make detailed recommendations on how to improve business performance, whilst evaluating your internal processes against the best the industry can offer.

Capital Expenditure Cost/Benefit Analysis

With our broad-based financial expertise and long experience of the hospitality industry, we can provide a thorough and independent cost/benefit analysis of your capital expenditure plans, to ensure that you are using your capital as efficiently as possible.

Investment and Divestment Strategy

We provide first-class advice to a wide range of clients. We can suggest a clear investment strategy that takes account of current market conditions, client requirements and the business cycle of the market under consideration.

Destination and Large Scale Project Master Planning

Our partner's experience of large-scale destination and project planning is unrivalled. Using exhaustive site and market analysis, we can determine the viability, from a financial and investment perspective, of any development opportunity. Adopting an approach that’s as detailed as any individual project feasibility study, we further analyse the performance of similar regional and international projects. Frequently working in multi-disciplined planning teams, we can generate market-driven, land-use master plans that incorporate components from different real estate sectors.

Highest and Best Use of the Land Analysis

We investigate whether proposed hotel developments meet strict criteria, are legal, physically possible, financially feasible and make the most productive use of the land. Our reports are recognised as the industry standard, accepted by banks and other financial institutions and recommended to developers and constructors before commencing any project.

Strategic management and planning

Our experience in strategic planning and implementation is extensive and we can work together with your management team, or directly with the Board, to evaluate your strategic and change management strategy.

Market Entry Strategy

We are experts on the Romanian and Republic of Moldova markets. We can produce an incisive examination of the case for entry into any market, based upon supply, brand saturation, opportunities within a particular market segment, SWOT analysis and your financial goals.

Repositioning Strategy and Analysis

When it comes to developing a re-positioning strategy to maximise the value of a property, we are the acknowledged experts. Market conditions, a change of ownership and faulty branding can all contribute to underperformance and our skilled teams work with owners to identify the problems, then recommend and implement a strategy with the best chance of success.

Operational Reviews

These involve an intensive analysis of a hotel’s business and form the foundation for the development of operational strategies to improve profitability. They may include:

Evaluation of the hotel’s market positioning.

Analysis of all operating manuals, sales and marketing plans, financial history, budgets, policy and procedure manuals, labour agreements, the resumes of key management team members, and other documents that relate to hotel operation.

Interviews with managers, department heads and selected line employees to determine their responsibilities and ways of working.

Prelending review

We provide practical pre-lending advice to borrowers and lenders, whether the finance under consideration is for expansion, acquisition or changes to an existing facility.We can advise on all aspects of a funding proposal from assessing the underlying health of a business and any security and serviceability issues, to protect the lender, to recommending structure and pricing for particular facilities. We can also play an important role in ensuring that both borrower and lender understand deal risks, pricing and future expectations.

Our established contacts with a vast network of investors, institutional funds and investment brokerage firms offer an effective entry point for clients and potential funding sources.

We sponsor a local conference that brings together the industry’s biggest players, including the world’s top hotel management companies, local and international investors, lenders and developers, to discuss emerging regional and international trends and network regarding specific projects and opportunities. We participate to international and regional relevant conferences as well.

TOURISM AND LEISURE

Tourism and Leisure projects make up a large part of our strategic partner's business at Horwath HTL and particularily the office in Zagreb benefiting of the wonderful tourism industry of Croatia that took off several years ago with the specific consulting support of this company. Tourism now needs to account for an as high as possible proportion of GDP and that is driven by extensive investment that is being made in the sector, both publicly and privately. Many countries have identified Tourism as the driver for significant growth. We belive Romania too has taken a good course in 2010 after THR Spain has developed the national tourism destination brand "explore the Carpathian Garden" and later on in 2011, Horwath HTL completed Romania's first strategic and operational marketing plan. The international experts take a systematic approach to every aspect of your project.

Public policy and framework play a fundamental part in the development and success of tourism initiatives and form the backbone of the tourism expertise. We work together with local offices and governmental bodies to fully develop a strategy based on technical skill and international best practices to create viable long term schemes that will create value and sustainability. At this stage of the development, we offer a range of services to scope out public policy, examine the long term development and the likely economic impact they will have, develop master plans, specific concepts, feasibility studies, strategic, operational and marketing plans.We work with local or national tourist organisations, countries, regions or communities, providing a thorough diagnosis of the territory in question, and a proposal for developing a tourism and leisure strategy with a five to ten year action plan.If required, we can also create a master plan for strategic sites and carry out an audit of existing tourist operations. Further work could include the development of a brand strategy for the territory and its implementation over a one to three year period. Here are the services Fivestar Hospitality can offer in cooperation with Horwath HTL:

Policy and Development

Tourism public policy studies

Tourism development studies

Tourism master plans

Tourism economic impact studies

Destination management

Tourism market research and trends

Project Planning and Management

Market studies

Best Use concepts (Project Master Planning)

Feasibility studies

Business plans

Destination Marketing

Marketing audits

Product development plans

Strategic marketing plans

Operational marketing plans

Branding strategies

THE HEALTH and WELLNESS SECTOR

We are taking special care of the Health and Wellness sector because it has a major growth potential related to tourism demand of the incoming and domestic type, both in bathing destinations and in investments oriented only towards leisure and wellness. We offer a full range of consulting services that make a difference in hotel and spa performance. From preliminary market research and feasibility work that helps determine if, what and how a property should be created, positioned and run in a given location to asset management and success.

We focus on:

Wellness Community Master Planning

Destination Retreats

Lifestyle & Wellness Centers

Bathhouses

Resort Spas

Urban Hotel Spas

Medical Spas

Health & Fitness Clubs

Day Spas

We specialize in three key areas: Market Research & Feasibility, Concept Development and Executive Recruitment.

MARKET RESEARCH & FEASIBILITY

Site Analysis

Market Research

Competitive Analysis

Positioning Strategy & Target Market

Service Platform Recommendations& Unique Facility Features

Marketing Strategy

Architecture Program & Adjacency Diagram

Demand Analysis & Financial Forecast

Investment Analysis

Operational Concept Development

WELLNESS HOTELS

Overall Development Concept

Positioning Strategy

Cultural & Design Influence

Initial Look & Feel Recommendations

Rooms & Accommodation Concept

Food & Beverage Concept

Human Resource Philosophy

Service Culture & Employee Standard Recommendations

Wellness Concept

Treatments & Service Menu

Wellness Program Platform

Professional Product Line Recommendations

HOTEL SPAS

Concept Statement

Positioning Strategy

Cultural & Design Influence

Unique Facility Features

Initial Look & Feel Recommendations

Treatments & Service Menu

Professional Product Line Recommendations

Executive Recruitment

Senior Wellness Team Recruitment

Selection Process

Detailed Interviews

Candidate Presentation

THE GOLF SECTOR

Through our strategic international partnerships Fivestar Hospitality is also able to come up with extensive golf industry experience offering a comprehensive golf business advisory service.

This includes services at both the development and operational end of the golf industry.